Davis A. Young

The Lost World of Genesis One

Science & Faith

“Every theologian, every pastor, every Christian in the natural sciences, indeed, every Christian who loves the Bible must put aside all other reading material this minute and immediately begin to absorb the contents of John Walton's The Lost World of Genesis One. Walton closely examines Genesis 1 in light of ancient Near Eastern literature and offers a compelling case that the creation account is far more concerned with the cosmos being given its functions as God's temple than it is with the manufacture of the material structures of the earth and universe. In the process, he has blown away all the futile attempts to elicit modern science from the first chapter of the Bible.”

The Lost World of the Flood

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“John Walton, the Indiana Jones of biblical Lost Worlds, has done it again! After maneuvering through the thickets and surveying the topography of the Ancient Near Eastern cultural landscape of the Lost Worlds of Genesis 1, Scripture, and Adam and Eve, Walton maps the terrain of the Lost World of the flood. On this journey Walton is accompanied by Old Testament scholar Tremper Longman and geologist Steve Moshier. As in earlier ventures into Lost Worlds, Walton and Longman, bolstered by an evangelical high view of Scripture, set forth their findings in a series of propositions. In their interpretations of the Genesis flood narrative as well as the narratives of the sons of God and the tower of Babel, they apply insights from the Ancient Near Eastern cultural context, which, they maintain, was common to both Israel and its neighbors. They conclude that the overarching theme of non-order, order, and disorder in relation to the divine presence is at the heart of the narratives. In essence, these familiar stories were rooted in actual, historical events, such as a significant local flood, but described in figurative language entailing hyperbole to make significant theological points about God's presence. The authors insist that the narratives were not intended to provide information with which to reconstruct the historical events themselves. In support of that contention, Moshier provides a geological critique of flood geology, the view that Genesis teaches a yearlong, worldwide flood that deposited most of Earth's fossiliferous strata. The Lost World of the Flood is a must-read for all fans of the Lost World books, especially those who are trying to understand Genesis 1–11 in the context of modern science. This book is a treasury of creative, thought-provoking proposals and insights, and is a pleasure to read.”